JORDAN
AT A GLANCE
Official Name: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Chief of State: King Abdallah II
Next election: N/A
Capital: Amman
Population: 6.3 million (UN, 2009)
Independence: 1946 from the United Kingdom
Human Development Index: 96 of 182 countries (UN, 2009)
Gender Gap Index: 113 of 134 countries(World Economic Forum, 2009)
Gross National Income per capita: US$3,740 (World Bank, 2009)
Implementing Jordan’s Educational Reform Model
Status: Complete, 2008
Local Organization: Ministry of Labour
Canadian Expert: Brenda Cooke
Case Study: Dreaming Big, Implementing Not-So-Big: Development Coordination in Jordan’s Ministry of Labour by Leslie Shimotakahara
Canada has long played a leading role in assisting with Jordan’s long-term educational and labour market reform strategy (the Employment, Technical and Vocational Education and Training strategy, as it is known). Developed over the past few years under the umbrella of the National Agenda, this ambitious reform strategy aims to better prepare Jordanians for the needs of the modern workplace. During a two-year planning period, a host of donors, including CIDA, the EU, World Bank and USAID among others, worked with the Ministry of Labour to develop this strategy taking a sector-wide approach. Stakeholders were encouraged to dream in colour, producing a plan that outstretched what could be realistically implemented within budget. |
"It’s wonderful to be part of this national sector-wide reform project. I’m especially proud of being able to bring Canada’s experience in building a robust college system to bear on the reform efforts here in Jordan."- Brenda Cooke |
When it came time to set up the unit that would be responsible for implementation, CIDA’s Deployment for Democratic Development (DDD) was asked to identify a Canadian expert who could assist in getting things back on track. During this DDD initiative, it became evident that the donor funds available were significantly more modest than what had been anticipated by Ministry of Labour. It fell to Canadian expert Brenda Cooke to assist with the set-up of the unit. Under these circumstances, it was challenging to “maintain the momentum and commitment of all stakeholder groups,” Ms. Cooke reflects. She was responsible for getting the unit up and running and helping to develop a Reform Program Implementation Model, including an organizational design for the unit, and providing policy guidance, advice on financial management and reporting arrangements, and on-the-fly training on a host of human resource management issues. Throughout this process, Ms. Cooke was guided by “‘metacognitive’ approaches to implementing change, which involves naming, describing, and explaining change and discussing people’s reaction.” Through her provision of this modest amount of technical assistance over a four-month period, the project was salvaged and the project climate was turned around – yielding some valuable lessons learned about dealing with change.